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Choreographer Goh Choo San dies in New York

Choo San was last here as a judge in the Miss Universe pageant held in May when this picture was taken.

He had viral infection linked to Aids, says report

By IRENE HOE

TALENTED. Applauded. Celebrated. And dead.

Goh Choo San, 39, the brightest dance star Singapore has ever produced, died in his New York City home on Saturday night of a viral infection apparently linked to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (Aids).

He had been seriously all for at least a month before be succumbed to viral colitis, a disease which the United Press International news agency said had been linked to Aids.

The UPI report said he had been diagnosed as having Aids last December but a family statement released yesterday revealed only that he died “after complications due to viral colitis".

Asked how Choo San could have contracted Aids, his ballet master, Mr Janek Schergen said In a telephone interview yesterday from New York: "I'm sorry. I couldn’t possibly tell you that."

Choo San had 36 ballets to his name, commissioned by "name” companies such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, and had just received commissions for three new ballets the very morning of his death.

"He's going to be missed by the entire dance world," Mr Schergen said.

Choo San’s artistic achievements as resident choreographer at the Washington Ballet since 1976 and associate artistic director since 1984, brought him - and Singapore - international recognition unmatched by any other Singapore-born artist.

“He really put the Washington Ballet on the map, said Ms Kay Butler, a board member of the Washington Ballet who has known Choo San for more than six years.

"People held him in the utmost respect. They regarded him as a genius in terms of his choreography. Dancers in the company came to the Washington Ballet to be with him and learn from him," Ms Butler said yesterday in a telephone interview from Washington D. C.

Recognition at home took longer. Choo San received long overdue honours in Singapore only in February this year as one of seven recipients of the Cultural Medallion, the country's highest honour for artistes.

Choo San was last here in May as one of the judges at the Miss Universe pageant.

His eldest brother, Choo Chiat, who heads the Vancouver-based Goh Ballet Company, and sister Soo Khim, principal of the Singapore Ballet Academy went to New York to be with Choo San last month.

Also there now are Choo San's sister Soonee, the academy’s founder and now head of the dance department at the Vancouver Academy of Music, and Choo San’s mother, Madam Ching Siew Han, who had been visiting Soonee. Ironically, after 17 years away from Singapore the youngest and most famous of the "Dancing Gohs" had been set to spend more time back home.

He had promised to help Singapore Dance Theatre - the professional dance company just launched by Soo Khim and choreographer Anthony Then - on its feet.

There will be a memorial service in New York today and later on in Washington D. C.

Choo San's body is to be cremated and his ashes will be flown home for a memorial service here later this month or in January.

The dance it over
'Quiet and rundown during hit last visit here'

Section Two,

Page 25

References[]

Irene Hoe, "Choreographer Goh Choo San dies in New York", The Straits Times, 1 December 1987[1].

Acknowledgements[]

This article was archived by Roy Tan.

Archive of "Choreographer Goh Choo San dies in New York", The Straits Times, 1 December 1987

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